The background description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
Various companies have put forth effort in utilizing materials from existing items for new purposes. Vaho Works, Ecologic Designs and Freitag Lab, as examples, are eco-design companies that offer messenger bags and wallets that are made entirely or almost entirely from a single type of repurposed material (e.g., advertisement banners, truck tarpaulins or inner tubes). Other companies have put forth effort in providing bags that are made entirely or almost entirely from a combination of repurposed tire and denim material. Because these companies appear to each market their products as being environmentally friendly, nature friendly or green, they are heavily incentivized to provide products made entirely of repurposed or at least environmentally friendly materials. Viewed from another perspective, a PHOSITA would not think to make bags of both repurposed materials and significant amounts of virgin material because (1) they would lose the marketing advantage, and (2) doing so is more expensive because it generally requires at least one of careful design selections and hand-cutting.
Some efforts have even been put forth in providing bags made from rubber tire material (side portions) and hemp material (front and back portions). As hemp is a popular material among environmental enthusiasts (being generally known as versatile and suitable for uses such as electric cars, paper, oils, clothing, etc.), and tire material does not include significant design elements to consider when cutting or designing products, many identical or almost identical tire/hemp bags can easily be manufactured, and retain the benefit of green marketing efforts.
Unfortunately, no one appears to have appreciated that repurposed materials can be more optimally used for their unique design elements and tear/weather resistant qualities, for example, using a repurposed billboard material for its water-resistant qualities in a bag that also includes a more visually appealing virgin material.
Thus, there is still a need for improved apparatuses, systems and methods of making products incorporating repurposed materials.